Gunfire erupted Sunday evening at the Bite of Seattle food festival near the Space Needle, leaving three people dead and four others injured, including a two-year-old boy. The shooting happened around 6pm during the final hours of the popular summer weekend event that draws hundreds of vendors and thousands of visitors.
Two of the three fatalities died at the scene; a third was pronounced dead at a hospital. The deceased included two men, ages 19 and 44, and a 56-year-old woman. The four injured were taken to hospitals and all remained in stable condition Monday, police said.
Authorities said they believe two suspects were firing at each other during the incident. Security officers stationed at the event witnessed one of them shooting. One suspect was arrested at the scene while the other fled the area. Monday's search for the second suspect continued, though police said there was no ongoing public threat.
Tyrone Davis, assistant Seattle police chief, told reporters that one suspect had surrendered and the other had escaped. Neither was publicly identified, and no description was released for the suspect still being sought.
Festival-goers described chaos and panic as crowds realized what was happening. Faith Adia Hunter said she and friends were near a crepe vendor when gunfire broke out. She and others rushed into the nearby Seattle Children's Museum to take shelter.
Vendor Roberto Ramirez recalled hearing what he initially thought were firecrackers before people began shouting about a shooter and running. "Suddenly everything was empty," he said. "People were freaked out." Many vendors abandoned their food stands and cooking equipment as they fled toward the exits.
Estan Wakonabo was waiting in line at a photo booth with his girlfriend when he felt someone shove him from behind. He turned to see a surge of people rushing away. "People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling," he said. Once he heard the gunshots, he escorted his girlfriend to safety before returning to the scene where he saw multiple victims on the ground.
Police and emergency crews evacuated the surrounding area of the Seattle Center campus. Additional visitors continued arriving for some time afterward, unaware of the shooting, and were turned away by officers.
The Bite of Seattle, which began in 1982, typically draws around 350,000 people over its three-day run. This shooting is among more than 270 mass shooting incidents recorded in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines mass shootings as incidents in which four or more people are wounded or killed.
Author James Rodriguez: "Another festival, another sudden eruption of gunfire, another scramble for safety. The pattern is becoming numbingly familiar."
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